


Facts

by Avengerz



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [13]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drunken Shenanigans, M/M, Pining, Pre-Slash, Rhodey is ride or die for Tony tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 22:05:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10173353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avengerz/pseuds/Avengerz
Summary: Prompt from tumblr: "MIT era shenanigans? like with some ridiculous pining?"“Don’t worry,” Tony says with a confidence he’s not sure he feels. “I’ll get us out of this.”“That’s what you always say,” Rhodey says. He sounds grumpy, but when Tony glances over he sees a smile pulling at the corner of Rhodey’s mouth. It thrills him, bright and hot inside, and Tony grins widely.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wish I could say I was back but tbh college is kicking my ass and tiny drabbles like this are all my exhausted muse can manage. Sorry fam!! but enjoy this I guess
> 
> Also this were written very early in the morning after months without writing anything at all so you can't judge me

Anthony Edward Stark is seventeen years, nine months, and sixteen days old. He is five feet, six inches tall, though he’ll surely hit another growth spurt any time now. He is a billionaire, or will be someday. He is a genius. He has his father’s genius, and his mother’s eyes. He is loved at a distance, and an annoyance in person. He is working on his master’s degree in computer engineering and considering the idea of getting a second one in physics. He is-

He is-

He is hopelessly in love with his roommate and best friend.

He is hopelessly in love with his roommate and best friend, who wants to kill him.

Tony knows this, because he lives by overconfidence and flair but he also lives by facts (his birthday is May 29th, his hair is brown, his father doesn’t like him). And right now, said beloved roommate and best friend is saying, very calmly and factually, “I’m going to kill you.”

Tony, when faced with the facts, isn’t sure he can take offense. The facts are these:

1\. Last night, Tony got wasted with a couple of graduate students who, thinking he was a freshman who had managed to slip into the party, thought it would be a great hazing idea to lock Tony naked in one of the chemistry labs.

2\. Tony, unless too inebriated to invent, often builds anything that comes to mind if given the tools and the privacy.

3\. Tony is never too inebriated to invent.

4\. Tony accidentally blew up the chemistry building.

5\. His roommate, who was wandering through the campus for some reason, heard the explosion and managed to drag Tony out of the wrecked room before Tony asphyxiated on the fumes.

6\. The crowd outside the building, thick for 3AM on a Saturday, explosion or no, saw them leave.

7\. Now, 9AM on Sunday, they are facing down the Head of Security, the Dean, and two detectives from Boston’s police department. It’s not looking good.

“I’m serious,” Rhodey continues under his breath, not even looking over as the Head of Security argues with the detectives in front of them. “I can’t lose my scholarship over this, Tones.”

Tony’s mouth is dry and his head is pounding and the lights are turned up way too bright for some reason, but he turns towards Rhodey at the undercurrent of genuine fear in the words. Rhodey can’t afford to lose his scholarship, literally. If the Air Force drops him over his involvement with Tony’s shenanigans, there’s no way he and his sweet but dirt-poor parents could afford to keep him at MIT, especially when he always refuses what he sees as Tony’s “charity.”

“Don’t worry,” Tony says with a confidence he’s not sure he feels. “I’ll get us out of this.”

“That’s what you always say,” Rhodey says. He sounds grumpy, but when Tony glances over he sees a smile pulling at the corner of Rhodey’s mouth. It thrills him, bright and hot inside, and Tony grins widely.

“And it always works, doesn’t it?” Rhodey rolls his eyes, but his smile grows.

It does work. Tony’s clever, with smooth words and a thick wallet and the occasional flash of wide brown eyes because  _‘me, sir? No, I’m sure you have me confused with some other hooligan.’_

Rhodey stays quiet, because he is black and poor and an easy scapegoat if Tony can’t get them out. But he does, and less than three hours later they step blinking (and groaning in Tony’s case, hangover still in full force) from MIT’s security building into the sun.

“I need a shower,” Tony says, “and a burger.”

Rhodey chuckles, a tired rasp of breath. “Get your own burger this time, rich boy. I’m taking a nap. See if I go looking for your sorry ass in the middle of the night again.”

Tony stumbles over nothing and Rhodey stops, reaching out for him. Tony hardly notices the strong hands on his shoulders. “You were looking for me?”

Rhodey frowns. “Well, yeah. Those grad students you went out with last night always manage to fuck you up if I’m not around.”

He feels off-balance, even with Rhodey still holding on to him. “Yeah, but… I would have been fine. You didn’t have to look for me.”

“You would have suffocated to death before anyone even realized you were in that building,” Rhodey says tartly. “You better be grateful I went after you.”

“I am,” Tony mumbles, and looks away from Rhodey. “Grateful, I mean.”

Rhodey’s face softens. “Hey,” he says, and one of his hands slips up to wrap gently around the back of Tony’s neck. Tony meets his gaze again, and wow, they’re standing pretty close right now, aren’t they? “You’re my best friend, man. I’m gonna look out for you.” Rhodey shakes him lightly, grins. “You can count on that, always.”

Tony flushes and trains his gaze on a tree just beyond Rhodey’s left shoulder. _This is it,_ he thinks desperately, _this is when I should tell him_. But he’s paralyzed with nerves, with “best friend” and “always,” and the moment passes. Rhodey shifts, slips the arm around Tony’s shoulders and guides them back towards their dorms. _It’s okay,_  Tony tells himself. _I’ll get another chance. I’ll tell him someday. Fact._

**Author's Note:**

> You can prompt me or enjoy more of my writing at my [tumblr!](http://anthonyfuckingstark.tumblr.com)


End file.
